Sep 15, 2006 By Scholastic Football Preview 5 min read

By Mike Ciarochi Most area football teams took considerable lumps the first two weeks of the high school football season, as teams scheduled tough non-conference opponents in hopes of better preparing for the conference races now at hand.

The Keystone Conference’s seven teams are a combined 1-13 through two exhibitions, with Belle Vernon’s win at New Castle the only win in the bunch. The Tri-County South Conference’s seven teams didn’t fare much better, limping into conference play at 3-11.

Regardless, most coaches still believe a tough set of exhibitions is the best way to prepare for the riggers of conference games.

“That’s the only way to go,” Uniontown’s John Fortugna said. “Ambridge is a very good football team and so is Connellsville. Regardless of their loss to North Hills, Connellsville is going to win a lot of Quad A games this year.

“For us, being able to play such tough teams just makes us better for our conference games.”

Albert Gallatin coach Chuck Colborn, whose team hosts Fortugna’s Red Raiders in the Keystone opener tonight, couldn’t agree more, with a bit of a caveat.

“We played against two teams in very good conferences,” Colborn said, referring to the Colonials’ losses at New Castle and Highlands. “But I was displeased with the way we’ve played, whether it was a lack of effort, a lack of confidence or a bunch of turnovers. We have a lot of things we have to get corrected real quick.”

But now both coaches and the rest of the coaches from the area can focus their attention to winning in the conference and scratching and clawing toward WPIAL playoff berths.

“This is a rivalry game for these teams,” Fortugna said. “Any time we play another Fayette County team, it’s big for our kids, for our fans, for all of us. I’m sure it’s the same feeling for Albert Gallatin. We always feel it’s important for our kids to play against Connellsville, Laurel Highlands and Albert Gallatin.”

Or, as Colborn put it, “None of that matters now. We could both be winless or both be undefeated. When we play Uniontown, it takes on a new meaning.”

“The first conference game is always very important, but this year I think our conference will be awfully close, with a lot of our teams knocking off each other as the season progresses.”

Besides the Uniontown at AG game, the docket is full of high school football match-ups.

Elsewhere in the Class AAA Keystone Conference, (0-2) Derry visits (0-2) Laurel Highlands. Belle Vernon (1-1) hosts Blackhawk in non-conference action. The Leopards have their conference bye this week.

In the Class AAAA Foothills Conference, (1-1) Connellsville travels to (2-0) Upper St. Clair in another non-conference match-up.

Conference games are old hat in the Class AA Interstate Conference, where the third week of games is also the third conference week for most teams. Waynesburg Central (1-1) travels to Southmoreland (1-1, 1-0), where the Scotties will celebrate their renovated stadium. Brownsville (0-2) plays host to Greensburg Central Catholic (2-0), a team that has yet to be scored upon.

Beth-Center, a 2-0 Class A Black Hills Conference team, travels to (1-1) California, one of two Tri-County South teams with a win. This one should prove to be a good test for both teams.

Frazier (1-1) opens Black Hills play with a home game against (1-1) Fort Cherry.

West Greene puts its 1-1 record on the line at (0-2) Jefferson-Morgan in the Tri-County South opener for both teams, while Carmichaels (0-2) takes the road to (0-2) Monessen. On Saturday, Mapletown brings a 1-1 record to Connellsville to meet (0-2) Geibel Catholic at 2 p.m..

Turkeyfoot Valley takes to the road for a 1 p.m. Saturday game at Ferndale.

Even though two games have been played, a bit of the unknown remains in the air, as Fortugna is keeping mum about the identity of his starting quarterback. Mike Dvorchak started the first two games, but sophomore Doug Sanner replaced him last week and produced a touchdown.

Regardless, Colborn knows what to expect from the Red Raiders.

“They have a lot of speed every year,” he said of Uniontown. “Their offensive and defensive lines are full of good sized kids.”

“We’re young on both lines, though,” Fortugna said. “We have one senior on the line in center Jeff Nutter, but all of the other kids are underclassmen. But we’ve had a good week of practice and we’re getting (WR/CB) Kevin Sanders back this week, which should help.”

Albert Gallatin’s playmaker is quarterback and outside linebacker Nate Turner, who has been asked to do a lot and has responded, according to his coach.

“Nate’s been doing great,” Colborn said. “We put a lot of pressure on him to make some decisions. Last week was the first he’s ever been a full-time, two-way starter. He got cramped up a little bit in the second half, but he’ll be fine this week.”